As prepared for delivery, on behalf of the UN

Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,

It is an honour to address you this morning. 

We gather at a time when the world is urgently in need of greater development financing if we are to meet our collective promise of the 2030 Agenda.

The Deputy Secretary-General spoke yesterday about the estimated $4 trillion annual financing gap for sustainable development. 

Alarmingly, this gap is growing: development financing is increasing, yet financing needs are growing at a faster pace.

To close this gap, it is more critical than ever to increase the capacity of countries to raise taxation revenue effectively. 

Tax-to-GDP ratios are stagnant: in the average middle-incomes country, the ratio has remained unchanged at between 16 and 17 per cent since the 2008 financial crisis, despite a generation of development.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Sevilla, Spain in June, can help turn commitments for domestic tax reforms into action. 

This action must make tax systems fairer, more transparent, more efficient and more effective.

In turn, the ongoing negotiations on a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation are mandated to strengthen global tax norms that support domestic efforts, to widen the tax base, and implement fairer and more progressive national tax systems. 

The Convention will be negotiated alongside two early protocols. 

One protocol is on taxation of income from cross-border services in our digitalized and globalized economy, while the other will focus on preventing and resolving tax disputes.   

As leaders in the global economy, the G20 has a pivotal role to play. 

I urge you to support the ongoing processes of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and the OECD’s work. Both efforts help to address the issues that you have been adding in your deliberations.

Excellencies, the stakes are high. 

We must seize this moment to evolve national and global taxation. Together we can build a strong and just foundation that underpins public finances and binds together communities. 

Not only for today, but also for the future.

Thank you.

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